Bonneau, SC
Nestled in the middle of Berkeley County, SC is a small little village of less than 700 residents that has a police department of 3, including Police Chief Franco Fuda.
Police Chief Fuda must have been bored or maybe there's just not a whole lot of excitement in his little town. A woman is driving a pick up truck that has a set of big, red, fake bull testicles hanging from the rear. Yep, Bulls Balls & Big Boy Nuts are popular decorations, especially for the pick up crowd set. I see them virtually every day. Big deal. In my mind, not illegal anymore than the decal of Calvin urinating. In fact, back in the 90's tickets were actually being written for that decal. The ACLU eventually stepped in and "obscenity tickets" for that traffic violation were summarily dismissed. I can't say I ever bought in to that. I felt like I had better things to do with my time.
Besides, the law, with its "contemporary community standards" seemed contrived. At least that was my opinion. Like I said, I had better things to do.
SC Code of Laws 56-5-3885 - "A sticker, decal, emblem, or device is indecent when taken as a whole, it describes, in a patently offensive way, as determined by contemporary community standards, sexual acts, excretory functions, or parts of the human body."
Evidently, this arcane law is still on the books. Who knew?
Chief Fuda approached the female driver of this pick up truck at a gas station as he perhaps found that these big, RED balls were an offensive offense. Story goes that he gave her the opportunity to remove them, but she refused. She disagreed with his obscenity assessment and was standing her ground on her 1st amendment right. He, on the other hand, didn't see it as a free speech issue, but instead he had appointed himself the morality police.
Chief Fuda decided the big RED balls warranted a $445.00 uniform traffic ticket. The Chief indicated that he was going to let the judge decide this case.
Before he goes to court though, he may want to get his eyes examined. He told a newspaper reporter that this 8" inch RED decoration was "realistic looking."
I have to say that if I'm given the opportunity to remove something or get a $445. ticket, chances are, I'm going to remove it and bitch about it later. But hey, some people want to be a martyr for the cause. The driver of the pick up plans on asking for a jury trial. Which, last I heard Chief Fuda, is still her constitutional right.
A local reporter contacted 3 other police departments and asked them how they felt about this obscenity bumper sticker law. You can read their replies in this article.
The real police don't have the time or inclination to be the morality police.
Nestled in the middle of Berkeley County, SC is a small little village of less than 700 residents that has a police department of 3, including Police Chief Franco Fuda.
Police Chief Fuda must have been bored or maybe there's just not a whole lot of excitement in his little town. A woman is driving a pick up truck that has a set of big, red, fake bull testicles hanging from the rear. Yep, Bulls Balls & Big Boy Nuts are popular decorations, especially for the pick up crowd set. I see them virtually every day. Big deal. In my mind, not illegal anymore than the decal of Calvin urinating. In fact, back in the 90's tickets were actually being written for that decal. The ACLU eventually stepped in and "obscenity tickets" for that traffic violation were summarily dismissed. I can't say I ever bought in to that. I felt like I had better things to do with my time.
Besides, the law, with its "contemporary community standards" seemed contrived. At least that was my opinion. Like I said, I had better things to do.
SC Code of Laws 56-5-3885 - "A sticker, decal, emblem, or device is indecent when taken as a whole, it describes, in a patently offensive way, as determined by contemporary community standards, sexual acts, excretory functions, or parts of the human body."
Evidently, this arcane law is still on the books. Who knew?
Chief Fuda approached the female driver of this pick up truck at a gas station as he perhaps found that these big, RED balls were an offensive offense. Story goes that he gave her the opportunity to remove them, but she refused. She disagreed with his obscenity assessment and was standing her ground on her 1st amendment right. He, on the other hand, didn't see it as a free speech issue, but instead he had appointed himself the morality police.
Before he goes to court though, he may want to get his eyes examined. He told a newspaper reporter that this 8" inch RED decoration was "realistic looking."
I have to say that if I'm given the opportunity to remove something or get a $445. ticket, chances are, I'm going to remove it and bitch about it later. But hey, some people want to be a martyr for the cause. The driver of the pick up plans on asking for a jury trial. Which, last I heard Chief Fuda, is still her constitutional right.
A local reporter contacted 3 other police departments and asked them how they felt about this obscenity bumper sticker law. You can read their replies in this article.
The real police don't have the time or inclination to be the morality police.
6 comments:
even in my small boring town, cops wouldn't stop anyone or give them a ticket for big red balls decals. By the way the chief's name is hilarious... I wonder if he was ever a captain hahahah!
Damn! Beaten to the punch.
Consider us even, Beat! LOL
Although, feel free to expound on this story. I'm sure your sense of humor could put a whole different spin on it. Seriously, go for it.
Hmmmm.....me thinks the POP Factor was elevated enough for Fuda to dig up some obscure law to throw at her.
I doubt POP came into play, knowing Fuda and being familiar with his travails in Bonneau. At least during the initial stop. He probably went nuts when she refused to remove them, however.
Okay - I did it. I wasn't as nice or as diplomatic as you. To be quite honest, I'm tired of hearing this idiot's name on the news.
Haha! The captcha word is 'shating' teehee.
OMG, Beat! I should have dug a little deeper into Fuda's background. Had I known, I wouldn't have been so "nice or diplomatic." The guy's a real piece of work. After all that investigative work you did, do you feel like you need a shower?
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